In the week ended June 20, initial claims rose by 15 000 from an upwardly revised 612 000 to 627 000, while markets were hoping for a decline (to 600 000). Part of the increase in claims resulted from education as weakened state & local budgets prohibited lengthening teaching contracts to the new academic year. Continuing claims, which are reported with a one-week lag, rose by 29 000 to a total number of 6 738 000, while the previous figure was upwardly adjusted from 6 687 000 to 6 709 000. The increase in continuing claims might be a bit disappointing after they dropped last week for the first time after 20 consecutive increases.
The final figure of first quarter GDP in the US showed a slight upward revision from -5.7% Q/Q to -5.5% Q/Q compared to the preliminary estimate. Positive adjustments came mainly from inventories and net exports, while personal consumption was downwardly revised from 1.5% to 1.4%. Nevertheless, the revisions are rather limited and don’t bring much new information.
EMU: industrial new orders disappoint in May
In April, euro zone industrial new orders came out somewhat disappointing in May. On a monthly basis, industrial new orders dropped by 1.0% M/M, while the consensus was looking for a flat outcome. The previous figure was however upwardly revised from -0.8% M/M to -0.2% M/M. The details show that the deterioration was led by a 2.4% M/M decline in capital goods, but also intermediate (-0.7% M/M) and durable consumer goods orders (-0.9% M/M) dropped in April. Non-durable consumer goods orders, on the contrary, rose by 1.8% M/M. On a yearly basis, industrial new orders are down by a new record low of 35.5% Y/Y, which puts more doubts on an economic recovery.
